Eglantine, Eglantine, oh how you shine
October 11, 2022 1:17 PM Subscribe
Dame Angela Lansbury Passes Away at 96
Just 5 days shy of her 97th birthday, the irrepressible three-time Oscar nominee and five-time Tony Award winner who solved 12 seasons’ worth of crimes as the novelist/amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher on CBS’ Murder, She Wrote died at home early Tuesday morning.
It's impossible to pick a favorite performance, but please enjoy Lansbury with Bea Arthur performing Bosom Buddies at the Tony Awards.
Just 5 days shy of her 97th birthday, the irrepressible three-time Oscar nominee and five-time Tony Award winner who solved 12 seasons’ worth of crimes as the novelist/amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher on CBS’ Murder, She Wrote died at home early Tuesday morning.
It's impossible to pick a favorite performance, but please enjoy Lansbury with Bea Arthur performing Bosom Buddies at the Tony Awards.
Ow ow ow ow ow. What a loss. What a TITAN.
Over and above her incredible skills and talents, I will always love her for doing what she did in a body that was always -- including when she was young -- larger than the Hollywood ideal. She unapologetically took up all the space she needed.
Sweeney Todd soundtrack (when I get home from work)? Sweeney Todd soundtrack.
posted by humbug at 1:21 PM on October 11, 2022 [9 favorites]
Over and above her incredible skills and talents, I will always love her for doing what she did in a body that was always -- including when she was young -- larger than the Hollywood ideal. She unapologetically took up all the space she needed.
Sweeney Todd soundtrack (when I get home from work)? Sweeney Todd soundtrack.
posted by humbug at 1:21 PM on October 11, 2022 [9 favorites]
Loved her in "Harvey Girls" with Judy Garland.
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posted by Melismata at 1:24 PM on October 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
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posted by Melismata at 1:24 PM on October 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
Sweeney Todd soundtrack (when I get home from work)? Sweeney Todd soundtrack.
Yes. And some of The Worst Pies in London for dinner.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 1:25 PM on October 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
Yes. And some of The Worst Pies in London for dinner.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 1:25 PM on October 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
So many great performances. She's the epitome of sinister in The Manchurian Candidate.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 1:31 PM on October 11, 2022 [30 favorites]
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 1:31 PM on October 11, 2022 [30 favorites]
The inhabitants of Cabot Cove are finally safe. The serial killer is gone.
Seriously, she was a marvel for so many decades. We won't see anyone like her again.
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posted by hippybear at 1:32 PM on October 11, 2022 [26 favorites]
Seriously, she was a marvel for so many decades. We won't see anyone like her again.
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posted by hippybear at 1:32 PM on October 11, 2022 [26 favorites]
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posted by Windopaene at 1:34 PM on October 11, 2022
posted by Windopaene at 1:34 PM on October 11, 2022
Grateful to have seen her and her amazing grand guignol eyes in Sweeney Todd. Unforgettable.
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posted by kinnakeet at 1:34 PM on October 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
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posted by kinnakeet at 1:34 PM on October 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
Seems kinda ironic that Mur Lafferty's Station Eleven (based on Jessica Fletcher) just came out.
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:35 PM on October 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:35 PM on October 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
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posted by feistycakes at 1:39 PM on October 11, 2022
posted by feistycakes at 1:39 PM on October 11, 2022
On a possibly related note: the theater I perform at is doing Sweeney Todd next summer and everyone but me is SUPER PSYCHED about it. I haven't seen ST but strongly suspect it won't be something I like at all since creepy serial killer stuff is not my jam, and the director is using terms like "splash zone" and "the ensemble are human refuse." And yet, two people told me I'd make a good Mrs. Lovett, and I just watched that scene and went, "um....I don't compare to Angela Lansbury!"
I note that my singing teacher said that Mrs. Lovett doesn't have to sing well, which, um....interpret that as you will.
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:40 PM on October 11, 2022 [7 favorites]
I note that my singing teacher said that Mrs. Lovett doesn't have to sing well, which, um....interpret that as you will.
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:40 PM on October 11, 2022 [7 favorites]
🎵
posted by Halloween Jack at 1:40 PM on October 11, 2022
posted by Halloween Jack at 1:40 PM on October 11, 2022
She broke my heart in The Picture of Dorian Gray.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 1:41 PM on October 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 1:41 PM on October 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
. No love for Bednobs and Broomsticks (which is where I first encountered her)?
posted by sardonyx at 1:47 PM on October 11, 2022 [24 favorites]
posted by sardonyx at 1:47 PM on October 11, 2022 [24 favorites]
Could it have been. . . murder?
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 1:49 PM on October 11, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 1:49 PM on October 11, 2022 [2 favorites]
Well I'll speak up for Bedknobs and Broomsticks, sardonyx. I watched that tape on repeat as a kid and would always get goosebumps at the climactic magic battle.
posted by PussKillian at 1:50 PM on October 11, 2022 [19 favorites]
posted by PussKillian at 1:50 PM on October 11, 2022 [19 favorites]
Her film debut was Gaslight. In 1944.
Her most recent onscreen role was in 2018.
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posted by kyrademon at 1:51 PM on October 11, 2022 [19 favorites]
Her most recent onscreen role was in 2018.
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posted by kyrademon at 1:51 PM on October 11, 2022 [19 favorites]
"I was primarily an actress, not a pretty face." -Lansbury
https://www.nytimes.com/video/obituaries/100000001997252/the-last-word-angela-lansbury-obituary.html
posted by humbug at 1:53 PM on October 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
https://www.nytimes.com/video/obituaries/100000001997252/the-last-word-angela-lansbury-obituary.html
posted by humbug at 1:53 PM on October 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
More like don't want to cry at work: Bedknobs and Broomsticks was the best.
posted by mersen at 1:56 PM on October 11, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by mersen at 1:56 PM on October 11, 2022 [6 favorites]
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posted by pangolin party at 1:57 PM on October 11, 2022
posted by pangolin party at 1:57 PM on October 11, 2022
Her film debut was Gaslight. In 1944.
Her most recent onscreen role was in 2018.
She first played her most famous role as an unassuming retiree almost 40 years ago. Which makes it nearly the halfway point of her career.
posted by atoxyl at 1:59 PM on October 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
Her most recent onscreen role was in 2018.
She first played her most famous role as an unassuming retiree almost 40 years ago. Which makes it nearly the halfway point of her career.
posted by atoxyl at 1:59 PM on October 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
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posted by lazaruslong at 2:05 PM on October 11, 2022
posted by lazaruslong at 2:05 PM on October 11, 2022
I'm absolutely baffled that Angela wasn't considered pretty or attractive. ARE YOU EFFING KIDDING ME?!?!?
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:06 PM on October 11, 2022 [23 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:06 PM on October 11, 2022 [23 favorites]
The first and best Mrs. Lovett, a fantastic Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance, and yes, absolutely terrifying in The Manchurian Candidate.
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posted by Mr. Bad Example at 2:19 PM on October 11, 2022 [5 favorites]
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posted by Mr. Bad Example at 2:19 PM on October 11, 2022 [5 favorites]
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posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 2:20 PM on October 11, 2022
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 2:20 PM on October 11, 2022
sardonyx: No love for Bednobs and Broomsticks (which is where I first encountered her)?
Clock the title of the post.
I don't even know what to say in this thread. She was so important to me for so many reasons.
I will watch Bedknobs & Broomsticks tonight. I don't need to re-watch Sweeney Todd at the moment since I've just recently shown it to Yet Another Friend Who Has Only Seen That Fucking Movie so that they can understand what it's missing (i.e. everything but especially Lansbury).
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posted by tzikeh at 2:21 PM on October 11, 2022 [5 favorites]
Clock the title of the post.
I don't even know what to say in this thread. She was so important to me for so many reasons.
I will watch Bedknobs & Broomsticks tonight. I don't need to re-watch Sweeney Todd at the moment since I've just recently shown it to Yet Another Friend Who Has Only Seen That Fucking Movie so that they can understand what it's missing (i.e. everything but especially Lansbury).
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posted by tzikeh at 2:21 PM on October 11, 2022 [5 favorites]
The first time I saw her was in an ad for Blackglama furs--the "what becomes a legend most?" ones, shot in black and white. I hated fur, but man, I just remember thinking, wow, she is something, and then my second mom introduced me to her performances in some of her favorite movies, including Gaslight.
I really enjoyed the fantastic discussion of her diet and workout book on Maintenance Phase. For once, it was just about something positive in the celeb wellness sphere, and it just cemented her image in my mind of being a really cool lady.
A legend, indeed.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 2:21 PM on October 11, 2022 [5 favorites]
I really enjoyed the fantastic discussion of her diet and workout book on Maintenance Phase. For once, it was just about something positive in the celeb wellness sphere, and it just cemented her image in my mind of being a really cool lady.
A legend, indeed.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 2:21 PM on October 11, 2022 [5 favorites]
No. I refuse.
Treguna makoides and trecorum satisdee.
(That'll bring her back, right? That's how it's supposed to work?)
posted by basalganglia at 2:23 PM on October 11, 2022 [19 favorites]
Treguna makoides and trecorum satisdee.
(That'll bring her back, right? That's how it's supposed to work?)
posted by basalganglia at 2:23 PM on October 11, 2022 [19 favorites]
My favorite bit of trivia is that she was only 3 years older than Laurence Harvey playing her son in The Manchurian Candidate.
posted by drewbage1847 at 2:23 PM on October 11, 2022 [12 favorites]
posted by drewbage1847 at 2:23 PM on October 11, 2022 [12 favorites]
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posted by pelvicsorcery at 2:24 PM on October 11, 2022
posted by pelvicsorcery at 2:24 PM on October 11, 2022
My first exposure to her was in Bedknobs and Broomsticks as well! And she's such a delight in Pirates of Penzance. What a titan she was!
posted by merriment at 2:24 PM on October 11, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by merriment at 2:24 PM on October 11, 2022 [6 favorites]
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Also, Hippybear beat me to the joke.
Also also, the sheer length of her career is pretty astounding. As someone who first learned about her from Murder, She Wrote, seeing a (much earlier) glamour shot of her was kind of mind-blowing.
posted by suetanvil at 2:24 PM on October 11, 2022 [5 favorites]
Also, Hippybear beat me to the joke.
Also also, the sheer length of her career is pretty astounding. As someone who first learned about her from Murder, She Wrote, seeing a (much earlier) glamour shot of her was kind of mind-blowing.
posted by suetanvil at 2:24 PM on October 11, 2022 [5 favorites]
Oh, and my other favorite role of hers is the princess in The Court Jester. That whole movie is a delight, but Angela Lansbury as a parody of soppy Rowena in hideously technicolor pink is just incredible.
posted by basalganglia at 2:29 PM on October 11, 2022 [15 favorites]
posted by basalganglia at 2:29 PM on October 11, 2022 [15 favorites]
Yes, of course, Sweeney Todd would be an excellent remembrance - but for anyone who wants something a little different (or a cheerier chaser):
I've Got You to Lean On from Anyone Can Whistle
How lucky we are to have been alive when she was. How lucky we are to have recordings to treasure.
(Also a Bedknobs and Broomsticks fan here!)
posted by kristi at 2:30 PM on October 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
I've Got You to Lean On from Anyone Can Whistle
How lucky we are to have been alive when she was. How lucky we are to have recordings to treasure.
(Also a Bedknobs and Broomsticks fan here!)
posted by kristi at 2:30 PM on October 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
(weeps in Disney Adult)
posted by kimberussell at 2:30 PM on October 11, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by kimberussell at 2:30 PM on October 11, 2022 [5 favorites]
Sweeney Todd would be an excellent remembrance
Saw her in that on Broadway. It was so good, I went back a second time.
And I'm a cheap kind of guy.
posted by BWA at 2:36 PM on October 11, 2022 [6 favorites]
Saw her in that on Broadway. It was so good, I went back a second time.
And I'm a cheap kind of guy.
posted by BWA at 2:36 PM on October 11, 2022 [6 favorites]
Well I'll speak up for Bedknobs and Broomsticks, sardonyx. I watched that tape on repeat as a kid and would always get goosebumps at the climactic magic battle
I can't tell you how many times we rented that video from the local grocery, only for this young gefilte to have watched that sequence, kitted out in plastic sword and shield. She'll be missed.
posted by greatgefilte at 2:41 PM on October 11, 2022 [5 favorites]
I can't tell you how many times we rented that video from the local grocery, only for this young gefilte to have watched that sequence, kitted out in plastic sword and shield. She'll be missed.
posted by greatgefilte at 2:41 PM on October 11, 2022 [5 favorites]
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I used to make fun of my parents for watching Murder, She Wrote. Now feistycakes and I will watch back to back to back episodes as we finish our nightcaps in bed, almost every night. And yes, we still joke that so many people seem to get murdered where ever Jessica goes, even in her home town, that people should flee when she comes to town.
posted by vrakatar at 2:47 PM on October 11, 2022 [12 favorites]
I used to make fun of my parents for watching Murder, She Wrote. Now feistycakes and I will watch back to back to back episodes as we finish our nightcaps in bed, almost every night. And yes, we still joke that so many people seem to get murdered where ever Jessica goes, even in her home town, that people should flee when she comes to town.
posted by vrakatar at 2:47 PM on October 11, 2022 [12 favorites]
“Why don’t you pass the time by playing a little solitaire?”
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 2:48 PM on October 11, 2022 [10 favorites]
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 2:48 PM on October 11, 2022 [10 favorites]
I first saw Bedknobs and Broomsticks at the drive-in. In my jammies.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 2:56 PM on October 11, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 2:56 PM on October 11, 2022 [7 favorites]
A tremendous loss. We have been working through (the many seasons of) "Murder She Wrote" and she is a delight. She was also over the top perfectly ridiculous in "Death on the Nile."
posted by being_quiet at 3:03 PM on October 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by being_quiet at 3:03 PM on October 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
She and my mother share a birthday, though not a birth year. At my mom's 70th birthday party, which was An Occasion, my sisters and I bought a full-size Angela Lansbury cut-out so she and Angela could celebrate together. We all love Ms. Lansbury's work. She will be missed by so many.
posted by epj at 3:04 PM on October 11, 2022 [10 favorites]
posted by epj at 3:04 PM on October 11, 2022 [10 favorites]
I've got to recommend the old black-and-white film of The Picture of Dorian Grey, in which a very young Lansbury plays Sibyl Vane. (A classical actress in the book, movie Sibyl is a music hall singer.)
Also this performance of "Bosom Buddies", by far the best song from Mame, with Bea Arthur at the 1988 Tony Awards.
posted by Pallas Athena at 3:14 PM on October 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
Also this performance of "Bosom Buddies", by far the best song from Mame, with Bea Arthur at the 1988 Tony Awards.
"Perhaps the most wonderful and terrible thing about theatre is that it's a memory. No matter how many times you've played a scene or performed a song, each moment lives just once."She made a lifetime of moments, of memories. How lucky we are to have them.
posted by Pallas Athena at 3:14 PM on October 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
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I used to watch Murder, She Wrote with my grandmother and my parents, but also first remember her from Bedknobs
posted by fimbulvetr at 3:14 PM on October 11, 2022
I used to watch Murder, She Wrote with my grandmother and my parents, but also first remember her from Bedknobs
posted by fimbulvetr at 3:14 PM on October 11, 2022
Also a massive fan of her performance in The Court Jester, alongside Danny Kaye.
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posted by faceplantingcheetah at 3:17 PM on October 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
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posted by faceplantingcheetah at 3:17 PM on October 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
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Now feistycakes and I will watch back to back to back episodes as we finish our nightcaps in bed, almost every night. And yes, we still joke that so many people seem to get murdered where ever Jessica goes, even in her home town, that people should flee when she comes to town.
Oddly and very unintentionally I’m sure replicating a key turning in the plot of Gravity's Rainbow.
posted by jamjam at 3:27 PM on October 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
Now feistycakes and I will watch back to back to back episodes as we finish our nightcaps in bed, almost every night. And yes, we still joke that so many people seem to get murdered where ever Jessica goes, even in her home town, that people should flee when she comes to town.
Oddly and very unintentionally I’m sure replicating a key turning in the plot of Gravity's Rainbow.
posted by jamjam at 3:27 PM on October 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
ClackingManualTypewriter.gif
::Carriage return::
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posted by cupcakeninja at 3:39 PM on October 11, 2022 [5 favorites]
::Carriage return::
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posted by cupcakeninja at 3:39 PM on October 11, 2022 [5 favorites]
She defeated the Nazis with witchcraft in Bedknobs and Broomsticks and was Elvis's mom in Blue Hawaii.
That's range.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 3:48 PM on October 11, 2022 [20 favorites]
That's range.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 3:48 PM on October 11, 2022 [20 favorites]
One of my favorite memories of my childhood is the look on my father’s face when I solved a Murder, She Wrote before Jessica Fletcher.
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posted by Etrigan at 3:52 PM on October 11, 2022 [6 favorites]
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posted by Etrigan at 3:52 PM on October 11, 2022 [6 favorites]
The inhabitants of Cabot Cove are finally safe. The serial killer is gone.
Yeah, but who knocked her off, sooo many suspects, and many getting out of prison just about now
posted by mbo at 4:11 PM on October 11, 2022 [8 favorites]
Yeah, but who knocked her off, sooo many suspects, and many getting out of prison just about now
posted by mbo at 4:11 PM on October 11, 2022 [8 favorites]
Shouldn't we all try the priest today? Just for her?
posted by Tesseractive at 4:19 PM on October 11, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by Tesseractive at 4:19 PM on October 11, 2022 [7 favorites]
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Rest in peace, queen. Murder, She Wrote got me through the pandemic and will get me through much more, and Sweeney Todd soundtracked a surprising amount of college.
In memoriam, here’s Angela Lansbury talking about the pleasures of baths and sex in the senior years. Let’s all be so free.
posted by Going To Maine at 4:27 PM on October 11, 2022 [5 favorites]
Rest in peace, queen. Murder, She Wrote got me through the pandemic and will get me through much more, and Sweeney Todd soundtracked a surprising amount of college.
In memoriam, here’s Angela Lansbury talking about the pleasures of baths and sex in the senior years. Let’s all be so free.
posted by Going To Maine at 4:27 PM on October 11, 2022 [5 favorites]
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posted by AloneOssifer at 4:27 PM on October 11, 2022
posted by AloneOssifer at 4:27 PM on October 11, 2022
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posted by JoeXIII007 at 4:32 PM on October 11, 2022
posted by JoeXIII007 at 4:32 PM on October 11, 2022
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posted by pepper bird at 4:36 PM on October 11, 2022
posted by pepper bird at 4:36 PM on October 11, 2022
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posted by NoThisIsPatrick at 4:43 PM on October 11, 2022
posted by NoThisIsPatrick at 4:43 PM on October 11, 2022
And she played Granny in the underrated 'The Company of Wolves'.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 4:49 PM on October 11, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 4:49 PM on October 11, 2022 [5 favorites]
Just last night I watched National Velvet, not sure why, and she was so young! but that smile and set of glowing apple cheeks were just the same (and it was delightful how she loomed over her ‘sister’ Elizabeth Taylor).
posted by janell at 5:16 PM on October 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by janell at 5:16 PM on October 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
Here she is singing Beauty and the Beast with full choir in 2001. Goosebumps.
posted by Comet Bug at 5:18 PM on October 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Comet Bug at 5:18 PM on October 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
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She was all that a Hollywood star, and a Broadway star, that anyone could ever aspire to be.
posted by annieb at 5:20 PM on October 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
She was all that a Hollywood star, and a Broadway star, that anyone could ever aspire to be.
posted by annieb at 5:20 PM on October 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
I'm absolutely baffled that Angela wasn't considered pretty or attractive. ARE YOU EFFING KIDDING ME?!?!?
I refute it thus.
posted by kirkaracha at 5:32 PM on October 11, 2022 [6 favorites]
I refute it thus.
posted by kirkaracha at 5:32 PM on October 11, 2022 [6 favorites]
sooo many suspects,
Where was Seth Haslett? Where was the nephew, Grady? Where was Sheriff Metzger? And that shady PI from New York and that dashing English spy guy?
Sorry, we all deal with things in our own way.
posted by vrakatar at 5:42 PM on October 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
Where was Seth Haslett? Where was the nephew, Grady? Where was Sheriff Metzger? And that shady PI from New York and that dashing English spy guy?
Sorry, we all deal with things in our own way.
posted by vrakatar at 5:42 PM on October 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
It was Grady. It was always Grady. He bored everyone to death.
posted by mochapickle at 5:44 PM on October 11, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by mochapickle at 5:44 PM on October 11, 2022 [6 favorites]
Also, I know I was recently rolling my eyes at people being upset over the death of a 96-year-old British granny they never met, but…this is different. Elizabeth was no Jessica Fletcher or Mrs. Potts.
posted by Comet Bug at 5:46 PM on October 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by Comet Bug at 5:46 PM on October 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
If ever there was a performer who deserved to be an EGOT but wasn't an EGOT, it's Angela Lansbury! Also, here to say, if you never saw/heard her performance in DEAR WORLD, it's beautiful.
I don't want to know from Dear World
posted by pjsky at 5:47 PM on October 11, 2022 [6 favorites]
I don't want to know from Dear World
posted by pjsky at 5:47 PM on October 11, 2022 [6 favorites]
I got to see her in Blithe Spirit when it came to DC in 2015, and she was still such a presence in the role for which she won her fifth Tony in 2009.
My little sister still complains about Murder, She Wrote being my favorite show when we were kids, but I had excellent taste.
She was a class act in addition to a great performer. She had a recurring role created on Murder, She Wrote for Madlyn Rhue so that Rhue could keep her SAG insurance when MS made it difficult for her to keep working.
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posted by the primroses were over at 6:21 PM on October 11, 2022 [12 favorites]
My little sister still complains about Murder, She Wrote being my favorite show when we were kids, but I had excellent taste.
She was a class act in addition to a great performer. She had a recurring role created on Murder, She Wrote for Madlyn Rhue so that Rhue could keep her SAG insurance when MS made it difficult for her to keep working.
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posted by the primroses were over at 6:21 PM on October 11, 2022 [12 favorites]
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so many great performances! Though I am a little sorry that she never got to be in the televison Hannibal -apparently she was the first choice for the part that eventually went to Gillian anderson. I'll dig out my copy of The Company of Wolves to watch tonight, I think
posted by Fuchsoid at 6:25 PM on October 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
so many great performances! Though I am a little sorry that she never got to be in the televison Hannibal -apparently she was the first choice for the part that eventually went to Gillian anderson. I'll dig out my copy of The Company of Wolves to watch tonight, I think
posted by Fuchsoid at 6:25 PM on October 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
Very pleased to learn that Angela Lansbury on Murder She Wrote and Aaron Spelling on Love Boat made many of the casting decisions they did so as to keep older actors in union health benefits with speaking parts. Are there current shows that do this?
posted by indexy at 6:32 PM on October 11, 2022 [12 favorites]
posted by indexy at 6:32 PM on October 11, 2022 [12 favorites]
She had a recurring role created on Murder, She Wrote for Madlyn Rhue so that Rhue could keep her SAG insurance when MS made it difficult for her to keep working.
I had intended to comment about that. The way I heard it was that she didn't initially even know Rhue, just heard that she needed work ASAP in order to qualify for benefits, so she gave her a recurring role on her own show and called up some friends in the business and asked them to give her work too.
Another thing I remember about her is reading a newspaper account of an interview with her in which the subject of her first marriage came up. It had lasted less than a year because her husband was gay. She said something to the effect of how it was so difficult in those times for a gay man and as someone who at the time had fairly recently dealt with the emotional fallout of finding out my first love had been gay, I found the fact that she would express only concern for him and nothing about what the situation was like for her to be quite something.
She married a second time in 1949, less than three years after her first marriage ended, and her second marriage lasted until her husband's death in 2003, over 53 years later, so in terms of her romantic/love life, she got the happy ending she deserved.
posted by orange swan at 6:51 PM on October 11, 2022 [5 favorites]
I had intended to comment about that. The way I heard it was that she didn't initially even know Rhue, just heard that she needed work ASAP in order to qualify for benefits, so she gave her a recurring role on her own show and called up some friends in the business and asked them to give her work too.
Another thing I remember about her is reading a newspaper account of an interview with her in which the subject of her first marriage came up. It had lasted less than a year because her husband was gay. She said something to the effect of how it was so difficult in those times for a gay man and as someone who at the time had fairly recently dealt with the emotional fallout of finding out my first love had been gay, I found the fact that she would express only concern for him and nothing about what the situation was like for her to be quite something.
She married a second time in 1949, less than three years after her first marriage ended, and her second marriage lasted until her husband's death in 2003, over 53 years later, so in terms of her romantic/love life, she got the happy ending she deserved.
posted by orange swan at 6:51 PM on October 11, 2022 [5 favorites]
This Lansbury anecdote was in the documentary about the late playwright Terrence McNally (Every Act of Life), and stuck with me. As reported by Michael Schulman (Twitter link):
In 1980, Terrence McNally was at Stephen Sondheim's 50th birthday party, so drunk that he spilled a drink on Lauren Bacall. "Then someone I hardly knew, Angela Lansbury, waved me over to where she was sitting,” McNally recalled later. "And she said, 'I just want to say, I don’t know you very well, but every time I see you, you're drunk, and it bothers me.' I was so upset. She was someone I revered, and she said this with such love and concern. I went to an A.A. meeting, and within a year, I had stopped drinking."
(She performed in his play Deuce on Broadway in 2007.)
posted by mersen at 7:02 PM on October 11, 2022 [14 favorites]
In 1980, Terrence McNally was at Stephen Sondheim's 50th birthday party, so drunk that he spilled a drink on Lauren Bacall. "Then someone I hardly knew, Angela Lansbury, waved me over to where she was sitting,” McNally recalled later. "And she said, 'I just want to say, I don’t know you very well, but every time I see you, you're drunk, and it bothers me.' I was so upset. She was someone I revered, and she said this with such love and concern. I went to an A.A. meeting, and within a year, I had stopped drinking."
(She performed in his play Deuce on Broadway in 2007.)
posted by mersen at 7:02 PM on October 11, 2022 [14 favorites]
I was privileged to see her in the revival of Noël Coward's Blithe Spirit at the National Theatre in DC in 2015. "Finishing the Blithe Spirit tour at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C., adds an appropriate bookend to Angela Lansbury’s theatrical career, since she played the National 58 years ago in a pre-Broadway tryout of Hotel Paradiso—the play that marked her Broadway debut" -- from Smithsonian Magazine, March 24, 2015.
I was so in awe of her, that when she stage doored her fans after the performance (it was raining, and an assistant held an umbrella over her) that I was too shy to ask for her autograph on my Playbill.
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posted by apartment dweller at 7:05 PM on October 11, 2022 [8 favorites]
I was so in awe of her, that when she stage doored her fans after the performance (it was raining, and an assistant held an umbrella over her) that I was too shy to ask for her autograph on my Playbill.
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posted by apartment dweller at 7:05 PM on October 11, 2022 [8 favorites]
Seeing several people on Twitter paying tribute with tweets to the effect that the “Gaslight” movie doesn’t actually exist. Amazing how many people appear not to understand the meta nature of those tweets.
posted by Ranucci at 7:23 PM on October 11, 2022 [9 favorites]
posted by Ranucci at 7:23 PM on October 11, 2022 [9 favorites]
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I always think of her performance in The Mirror Crack'd as the definitive Miss Marple - as well as being a proto Jessica Fletcher story.
I got to see her in A Little Night Music in ... 2014ish? She sang Liaisons. It was absolutely spellbinding.
posted by Pickman's Next Top Model at 7:40 PM on October 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
I always think of her performance in The Mirror Crack'd as the definitive Miss Marple - as well as being a proto Jessica Fletcher story.
I got to see her in A Little Night Music in ... 2014ish? She sang Liaisons. It was absolutely spellbinding.
posted by Pickman's Next Top Model at 7:40 PM on October 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
Angela Lansbury records "Be Our Guest" - - behind the scenes footage of the recording session on June 8, 1990.
posted by fairmettle at 9:35 PM on October 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by fairmettle at 9:35 PM on October 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
Bedknobs and Broomsticks was the very first movie that I added to the Darkstarchive.
So that even in the postapocalypse, there will still be a spirited Angela Lansbury, defeating the Nazis with magic and song.
Filigree, apogee, pedigree, perigee!
posted by darkstar at 10:22 PM on October 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
So that even in the postapocalypse, there will still be a spirited Angela Lansbury, defeating the Nazis with magic and song.
Filigree, apogee, pedigree, perigee!
posted by darkstar at 10:22 PM on October 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
I'll be doing some Positive Moves tonight in her honor.
posted by wakannai at 3:11 AM on October 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by wakannai at 3:11 AM on October 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
Charles Busch has a touching remembrance of her.
posted by Short Attention Sp at 3:15 AM on October 12, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Short Attention Sp at 3:15 AM on October 12, 2022 [2 favorites]
Her work reminds me of classic Hollywood as I _remember it_. Absolute legend.
posted by xtian at 5:15 AM on October 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by xtian at 5:15 AM on October 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
Angela Lansbury records "Be Our Guest" - - behind the scenes footage of the recording session on June 8, 1990.
Seems like every time I watch the video of that session it's because we've just lost someone. And it was always tear-inducing to begin with - Disney agreed to have the recording done in New York because Howard Ashman was already too sick to travel to the studio in Los Angeles.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 6:44 AM on October 12, 2022 [3 favorites]
Seems like every time I watch the video of that session it's because we've just lost someone. And it was always tear-inducing to begin with - Disney agreed to have the recording done in New York because Howard Ashman was already too sick to travel to the studio in Los Angeles.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 6:44 AM on October 12, 2022 [3 favorites]
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posted by exlotuseater at 6:48 AM on October 12, 2022
posted by exlotuseater at 6:48 AM on October 12, 2022
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posted by of strange foe at 7:07 AM on October 12, 2022
posted by of strange foe at 7:07 AM on October 12, 2022
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posted by lesser weasel at 7:41 AM on October 12, 2022
posted by lesser weasel at 7:41 AM on October 12, 2022
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posted by May Kasahara at 9:18 AM on October 12, 2022
posted by May Kasahara at 9:18 AM on October 12, 2022
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I loved watching Murder, She Wrote with my grandmother, and she was wonderfully predatory in Manchurian Candidate.
posted by brundlefly at 9:30 AM on October 12, 2022
I loved watching Murder, She Wrote with my grandmother, and she was wonderfully predatory in Manchurian Candidate.
posted by brundlefly at 9:30 AM on October 12, 2022
I loved her as Ruth in the Pirates of Penzance movie, and so much else.
posted by h00py at 12:57 AM on October 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by h00py at 12:57 AM on October 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
Alexandra Petri, Washington Post:
“No one deserves killing!” she shouts in the first episode — and she continues to feel that way even after her hundredth corpse. You would think that after seeing so much carnage, she would be steeled to it, but she never is. Lansbury makes you forget that this is a woman for whom only a week has passed since she was last fishing a body out of a lagoon.posted by jenfullmoon at 1:49 PM on October 13, 2022 [12 favorites]
Anyone who spends more than half an hour with me has to sit through a long rant where I pound the table and say, “Imagine! A woman! On the television! Who gets to just be in her 60s and wear cardigans! Do you know how sexy Jessica Fletcher would have to be now, if this show were made today? And she would have trauma!”
In a more just society, all crimes would be solved not by police but by a well-mannered, meddling widow on a bicycle. The authorities could be called in to assist her with the final scene, in which she prompted the murderer to confess in a sudden flash of hubris that technically might not be admissible in a court of law. If I had a dime for every killer who at approximately the 40-minute mark suddenly said, “Yes, all right. I did it!” I could retire now.
And only Lansbury could have sold this ridiculousness. My favorite episode is one in which (I am not making this up) one of the suspicious characters Jessica interviews does such an uncanny vocal impression of the noise made by the house where the murder occurred that she is able to figure out that the killer turned on old pipes that had not been used in some time; this detail lets her nail him. Genuinely, the case hinges on one actor going “scree screeeeeeeee kssss screeee” while Lansbury nods and listens intently.
Unlike Sherlock Holmes, the escapist fantasy of a detective who is so absolutely intelligent that he can be as rude and dismissive of others as he likes, Jessica Fletcher in the hands of Lansbury was the escapist fantasy of a detective so absolutely intelligent that she never had to be rude, ever. It was thrilling to watch a woman get to move through the world the way Jessica Fletcher did, getting the respect she deserved without having to raise her voice.
Do you know how sexy Jessica Fletcher would have to be now, if this show were made today?
Lansbury was 58 when the first episode of MSW aired.
Sandra Bullock is 58.
posted by Etrigan at 7:58 PM on October 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
Lansbury was 58 when the first episode of MSW aired.
Sandra Bullock is 58.
posted by Etrigan at 7:58 PM on October 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
Yes, but Sandra Bullock’s brand isn’t being 58. Though she could actively try to change that, I suppose…
posted by Going To Maine at 12:20 AM on October 15, 2022
posted by Going To Maine at 12:20 AM on October 15, 2022
The obvious and obligatory joke about Murder, She Wrote was that it was really a TV show about a prolific serial killer who lived in Cabot Cove and was only able to keep up her reign of terror because of her extraordinary ability to frame unsuspecting patsies and dupe the local, incompetent police into thinking she was solving the crimes. My friend and I called the show Murder, She Done. I tip my hat to Angela Lansbury for her excellent and uncanny portrayal of one of history’s most heinous and calculating serial murderers.
posted by darkstar at 9:36 AM on October 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by darkstar at 9:36 AM on October 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
In memoriam, here’s Angela Lansbury talking about the pleasures of baths and sex in the senior years. Let’s all be so free.
That time John Waters ran into Angela Lansbury at the BDSM Hellfire Club, in NYC's Meatpacking District. "Waters put Lansbury in the voyeur category."
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:06 AM on October 20, 2022 [3 favorites]
That time John Waters ran into Angela Lansbury at the BDSM Hellfire Club, in NYC's Meatpacking District. "Waters put Lansbury in the voyeur category."
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:06 AM on October 20, 2022 [3 favorites]
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posted by Joey Michaels at 1:18 PM on October 11, 2022